Lean Manufacturers Recognized for Excellence

Published: Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 23:00

The largest missile manufacturing facility in the world, an appliance manufacturer and 10 automotive suppliers are 2004 recipients of the 2004 Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing.

Dubbed the "Nobel Prize of Manufacturing" by Business Week, the Shingo Prize focuses on lean manufacturing practices. The prize is named after Shigeo Shingo, who helped create the Toyota Production System and other manufacturing processes. Nine state-level awards and a public-sector category, primarily for military depots doing remanufacturing, have been implemented in recent months.

Three notable achievements of the 2004 recipients include:

• Seven of the 12 achieved product quality of less than 10 returned parts per million opportunities from the customer.
• Seven of the 12 have inventory turns of more than 25 per year (compared to a U.S. average of 8).
• Premium freight as a percent of production costs averaged 0.12 percent.

These data cover the full-year of 2003 and all are clear indicators of world-class manufacturing achievements.

"Once again the recipients of the Shingo Prize demonstrate that they are prepared to weather economic uncertainty by not wasting precious manufacturing and business resources, " says Ross Robson, Shingo Prize executive director. "Shingo Prize recipients and lean manufacturers clearly stand out among the manufacturers of North America in terms of quality, cost, delivery and business results."

This year’s Shingo Prize Recipients are:

• ArvinMeritor Light Vehicle Systems Gladstone plant, Columbus, Indiana
• Delphi Corp., Delphi Electronics and Safety, Delnosa 5 and 6 Operations, Reynosa, Mexico
• Delphi Electronics and Safety, Kokomo Operations, Plants 7 and 9, Kokomo, Indiana
• Delphi Corp. Energy and Chassis Systems, Empresas Ca-Le de Tlaxcala, Mexico
• Delphi Sistemas de Energia S.A. de C.V., Plt. 57; Chihuahua, Chihuahua Mexico
• Delphi Corp. Packard Electric Systems. Plant 50, Del Parral Chihuahua, Mexico
• Delphi Corp., Packard Electric Systems. Plant 58, Meoqui, Chihuahua, Mexico
• Delphi Packard, Plant 98. Delphi Corp., Packard Electric Systems, Centro Tecnico Herramental S.A de C.V, Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila
• Delphi Packard, Plant 51, Nuevo Casas Grandes Chihuahua, Mexico
• Maytag Jackson Dishwashing Products, Jackson, Tennessee
• Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson Operations, Tucson, Arizona
• TI Automotive, Cartersville, Georgia

In addition to the recipients listed, other finalists included:

• Aspect Medical Systems, Newton, Massachusetts
• Delphi Lansing Cockpit Plant, Lansing, Michigan
• Delphi Energy and Chassis, Saginaw, Minnesota
• Delphi Steering Plant 7, Saginaw, Michigan
• GDX Automotive, Vehicle Sealing Products, Batesville, Arkansas
• GDX Automotive, New Haven, Missouri
• Maytag-Searcy Laundry Products, Searcy, Arkansas
• Nemak Corp. of Canada-Windsor Aluminum Plant, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
• TI Automotive, Brake Tube Assemblies, Greenville, Tennessee

"Each of these plants are also outstanding in their manufacturing processes," says Robson.

The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing for manufacturers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico is administered by Utah State University’s College of Business. Awards for the recipients and finalists will be presented at the 16th Annual Shingo Prize Conference and Awards Ceremony on May 20 at the Lexington Convention Center, Lexington, Kentucky. Speakers will include Gary Convis, president of Toyota Motor at Georgetown, Kentucky, and Masaaki Imai, founder and chairman of the Kaizen Institute in Tokyo, among others.

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